Virdhawal Khade, who won three gold and two silver medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune recently, attributes his performance to hard work. By Kalyan Ashok.
Virdhawal Khade, the ‘Boy Wonder’ of Indian swimming, exceeded his own expectations at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune with a haul of three gold and two silver medals. The 17-year-old swimmer, a ward of noted coach Nihar Ameen of K. C. Reddy Swim Centre in Bangalore, attributed his remarkable performance to “hard work”.
It has been a hectic but highly satisfying season for the youngster who has set the pool ablaze in every meet that he has participated in. “My aim was to stay fully fit, keep up the tempo and swim as fast as I can in all the events. And the fact that I did it, gives me a lot of satisfaction,” said Khade.
He rated the 100m freestyle record — 49.47 seconds — as his best ever performance to date. “Having clocked 50.07 seconds at the Beijing Olympics, I knew I could crack the 50-second barrier and I did it in Pune,” said Khade.
Khade’s effort was not only a Commonwealth Youth Games record, but it also bettered the FINA Youth World Record of 50.06s.
The silver medal in the 200m freestyle was bit disappointing for Khade since it came after a fantastic finish where he lost by a touch. “Maybe if I had been drawn on lane three instead of two, I could have watched my rival towards the finish and pulled ahead of him,” said Khade.
The 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly races went as per expectations said Khade. “I kept my focus and won well in both the races,” he added.
What really spurred the young Indian was the huge crowd support. “It was a thrilling experience to swim before the home crowd in an international meet. I just couldn’t believe my eyes, watching thousands throng the pool and support me during every race, though they were a bit raucous, which upset my concentration during the start of the 50m freestyle. Their presence proved to be a motivating factor,” said Khade.
Khade is now all set for the Senior National Championship, starting in Hyderabad on November 5. He, however, wishes to take it a “little easy”.
“Maybe I will try something different and swim few other strokes basically to unwind myself,” he said.
At 17, Khade has a long haul ahead of him and he has his sights set on the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012. “I believe I can be medal contender,” he said.
Nihar Ameen was elated with his ward’s showing. “Things went according to our plans. I had set two peaks for Khade, one at the World Youth Games in Monterrey (Mexico) and the other at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. Between July and October, there was hardly much time but Khade has done it, met all my targets,” he said.
“Maybe a couple of years ago, if you had asked me about the chances of an Indian going below 50 seconds in the 100m freestyle, I would have laughed, but not with Khade around. It is a huge performance in the Indian and Asian context, and even the world, as it is fastest time clocked by a 17-year old,” said Ameen.
The coach echoed Khade’s sentiments about the Senior Nationals. “It would be more of a fun meet for him. We are looking ahead to 2010 (Commonwealth Games) and 2012 (London Olympics). Of course, we have plenty of international meets in 2009 including the World Championship in Rome, the Asian Youth Games in Singapore and the Asian age-group meet in Japan,” he said.
Though the 2012 Games is far away, Ameen is already gearing up for it. “Our next quadrangular cycle of training starts on January 1, 2009 and the focus is on London. It might look improbable now, but Khade, who is among the world’s best swimmer in his age-group, could be a medal prospect in 2012 if he keeps improving at the same pace,” said the coach.
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